After finding a dress, Avery leaves the boutique with Thea, Alisa, Oren, and security while paparazzi photograph the outing. In the SUV, Thea teases Avery about her priorities and suggests that Avery’s attention is still fixed on the Hawthornes. Thea then insists that her involvement is not about her uncle or Zara, but about doing what Emily would have wanted.

The ride turns dangerous when Oren suddenly swerves and the front guard reaches for his gun. A car speeds toward them and strikes the SUV, trying to force them off the road. Oren avoids a full collision, accelerates, crosses the median, and leads the attacking car into a trap as police sirens close in and the other vehicle spins out, surrounded by officers.

Avery, terrified and furious, learns that the danger was deliberate: Oren and Alisa used the public shopping trip to create a visible opportunity for the attacker. Oren explains that because Avery could not avoid danger while continuing to live at Hawthorne House, he and Alisa worked with police and security to draw out whoever had already tried to kill Avery.

Avery feels betrayed because Oren and Alisa did not warn her. Thea demands answers and learns there had been an attack on Avery two days earlier. Oren then receives confirmation that the driver has been caught: Drake, Libby’s ex-boyfriend. Police found a rifle in Drake’s trunk that preliminarily matches the bullets from the shooting, meaning investigators will want to question Libby because someone may have helped Drake onto the estate, and Libby and Avery’s father would inherit if Avery died.